At the same time blogging was on the rise and "making it as a blogger" was a thing, the print media was getting absolutely torched by downsizing, layoffs, force

At the same time blogging was on the rise and "making it as a blogger" was a thing, the print media was getting absolutely torched by downsizing, layoffs, forced retirements, and private equity buyouts. So there was probably some vain hope that independent blogging could be a sustainable revenue stream for the reporter class. Alas, it has not.